Camel

Camel

Discussing the use of lights and films during his band’s performances, Camel guitarist and vocalist Andrew Latimer told Melody Maker in 1976, “This is the first time we’ve used films, and I don’t want us to get into it too much…. We’re not a very bopping band, so it’s nice for the audience to have something to watch.”

The British progressive rock group Camel formed in 1972 with the blues-rock trio Brew, consisting of Latimer, bassist Doug Ferguson, and drummer Andy Ward. After backing singer Philip Goodhand-Tait on an album, the trio was joined by organist and vocalist Peter Bardens and began rehearsing original material. Camel’s sound featured extensive interplay between Latimer’s guitar and Bardens’s keyboards, underpinned by Ward’s swinging percussion. Vocals were not the band’s main focus. During the recording of Camel’s debut album, the producer suggested that the group find a better singer. After auditioning 30 unsuitable vocalists, the search was abandoned and the recording sessions continued.

The band became a fixture on the English college circuit. In a 1973 interview with Melody Maker, Peter Bardens related the importance of these venues to Camel, “I think the college circuit plays a very important part in any new band’s future. They are one of those rare places where small bands get the chance to play, and what’s more, they are always good payers.” One early concert appearance that provided Camel with underground credibility was on October 8, 1973 at the Greasy Truckers’ Party at Dingwall’s Dance Hall in London. A live cut from that show, “God of Light Revisited Parts 1, 2, and 3” formed one side of a rare double album commemorating the event, which also featured contributions by progressive contemporaries Gong and Henry Cow.

As a result of constant touring, the band’s second album Mirage sold much better than its self-titled debut. Bardens told Melody Maker,“We started the band from scratch. We had no money and no equipment. In three years we’ve done four tours of Britain, and we’re the sort of band that creeps up on you.”

Camel’s first taste of success came with its 1975 album The Snow Goose, an all-instrumental work based on Paul Gallico’s children’s book. The album reached both British and American charts. Latimer commented to Melody Maker about the writing of the album: “When we’d written the piece we were really pleased, then again, it wasn’t until we’d finished the album that we realized what we’d got.” Andy Ward continued, “Snow Goose has opened up a reaction in the audience and the press that we’d been waiting for for a long time.” The band was voted Melody Maker’s Brightest Hope in that magazine’s 1975 poll, and performed at The Royal Albert Hall with the London Symphony Orchestra.

Moonmadness, released in 1976, featured several songs inspired by the personalities of the band members, including “Chord Change” for Bardens, “Air Born” for Latimer, “Another Night” for Ferguson, and “Lunar Sea” for Ward. Toward the end of the recording sessions for that album, bassist Doug Ferguson left to form the group Head Waiter. His replacement, Richard Sinclair, was the bassist and vocalist for veteran progressive groups Caravan and Hatfield and the North. On Rain Dances, Sinclair became the distinctive vocalist Camel had lacked. A Melody Maker contributor wrote, “[Sinclair’s] vocals were a rare treat, totally unaffected by the Americanisation most rock singers turned to without question, and delivered with at one and pitch that would delight a choir master.”

In 1978 Peter Bardens left Camel, replaced by two more ex-Caravan members, Richard’s cousin David Sinclair and Jan Schelhaas, causing Camel to earn the nickname “Caramel” by the music press. The band also added former King Crimson sax and flute player Mel Collins. Before recording sessions could be held, however, Richard and David Sinclair departed.

Formed c. 1971, in London, England; backed Philip Goodhand-Tait on album and tour, 1971; released debut album Camel on MCA, 1973; appeared at Greasy Truckers’ Party, 1973; played at Royal Albert Hall with London Symphony Orchestra, 1975; formed Camel Productions, 1991.

Camel found itself deserted by the British music press during the early eighties, as press attention shifted to punk rock. Despite sellout tours of Europe, the group’s records no longer sold well. Andrew Latimer told Melody Maker in 1980, “Sometimes it’s frustrating if you do something you think is a work of art and it gets totally ignored.” Another major setback occurred when Andy Ward left the band due to the pressures of touring and a distaste for the music industry in general, leaving Latimer as the last original member of Camel.

Latimer was pressured by the record company to record more pop-oriented material on 1982’s The Single Factor which featured members of The Alan Parsons Project. Peter Bardens makes a guest appearance on the track “Sasquatch” along with founding Genesis guitarist Anthony Philips. Following the release of Stationary Travellerin 1984, inspired by the social and physical division of Berlin, Camel took a seven-year hiatus.

Andrew Latimer relocated to California during the early nineties, and formed Camel Productions to release new and archival Camel material. Camel’s nineties output includes Dust and Dreams, inspired by John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath. Harbour of Tears was inspired by Latimer’s search for his family’s roots following his father’s death. In 1997 Camel completed a world tour, performing to sell-out crowds in nine countries. Latimer and Camel Productions also produce and distribute an annual newsletter which keeps Camel in the public eye.

In addition to a prolific solo career, Bardens enjoyed a brief stint down memory lane with Ward for a nostalgically titled group Mirage, performing a few select dates in 1994. Since leaving Camel in the early eighties, Ward has been involved with several other projects, including progressive rockers Marillion, Richard Sinclair’s Caravan of Dreams, and his current band, English psychedelic rockers, The Bevis Frond.

Throughout its 25-year existence, Camel has scaled the heights of fame as well as the depths of mainstream media derision, acquiring a dedicated following along the way. Through Andrew Latimer’s company, Camel Productions, Camel remains alive and well.

camel

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.

Copyright The Columbia University Press

camel, ruminant mammal of the family Camelidae. The family consists of three genera, the true camels of Asia (genus Camelus); the wild guanaco and the domesticated alpaca and llama, all of South America (genus Lama); and the vicuña, also of South America (genus Vicugna). The hooves on members of the family are much reduced, growing only on the upper surface of the outside toes of the feet.

The two species of true camel are the single-humped Arabian camel, or dromedary, Camelus dromedarius, a domesticated animal used in Arabia and North Africa, and the two-humped Bactrian camel (C. bactrianus) of central Asia. Some wild Bactrian camels exist in Turkistan and Mongolia. The humps are storage places for fat. Camels range in color from dirty white to dark brown and have long necks, small ears, tough-skinned lips, and powerful teeth, some of which are sharply pointed. The camel uses the mouth in fighting. Adaptations to desert life include broad, flat, thick-soled two-toed feet that do not sink into the sand; the ability to go without drinking for several days—or longer if juicy plants are available; and valvular nostrils lined with hairs for protection against flying sand. Horny pads help to protect the chest, knees, and thigh joints against injury from the hard surfaces on which the camel sleeps.

Strong camels usually carry from 500 to 600 lb (230 to 270 kg) and cover about 30 mi (48 km) a day. Some Bactrian camels can transport 1,000 lb (450 kg). A light, fleet breed of dromedary is used for riding and not for bearing heavy loads. The name dromedary was formerly applied to any swift riding camel.

Geologic findings indicate that the camel originated in North America, that one group migrated to Asia and the other to South America, and that both became extinct in North America probably after the glacial period. Camels are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Mammalia, order Artiodactyla, family Camelidae.

Camels

Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa
COPYRIGHT 2004 The Gale Group, Inc.

CAMELS

domesticated ruminant of central asia, arabia, and north africa.

A domesticated animal, with one or two humps, that is used as a mode of transportation in the Middle East, the camel is a survivor of an almost vanished group of ungulates (hoofed mammals) that once populated all the large land masses of the world except Australia. Its close relatives are the South American llama, alpaca, guanaco, and vicuña. The only camels existing today are two domesticated species: the Arabian dromedary, Camelus dromedarius (or ibil ), which has one hump and is used for riding; and the two-humped Bactrian camel, Camelus bactrianus, which has shorter legs and is more heavily built. A few survive in the Gobi Desert.

Traditional belief has it that one-humped camels do not adapt well to cold or moist climates nor the two-humped camel to extremely hot climates. Both store fat in their humps, have long necks suitable for feeding on bushes and trees, and have padded feet suited for travel on sand but ill-suited for travel on mud. Both have the capacity to go long intervals without water. Camels do not store water as some folk stories allege. Rather, they conserve it through highly efficient kidneys that allow them to process water with a high concentration of impurities; they also have the capacity to absorb heat by allowing their blood temperature to rise, without ill effect. The horn of Africa constitutes the largest and most abundant camel territory in the world and today Somalia alone has a camel population exceeding four million. Camel milk is a dietary staple in Somalia. Camels exist as a form of wealth and nourishment and form part of the traditional bride-price.

Bibliography

Bulliet, Richard. The Camel and the Wheel. New York: Columbia University Press, 1990.

Mia Bloom

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camel

cam·el
/ ˈkaməl/
•
n.
1.
a large, long-necked ungulate mammal (genus Camelus) of arid country, with long slender legs, broad cushioned feet, and either one or two fat-storing humps on the back. The
camel family (Camelidae) also includes the llama and its relatives. ∎
a fabric made from camel hair.
∎
a yellowish-fawn color like that of camel hair.
2.
an apparatus for raising a sunken ship, consisting of one or more watertight chests to provide buoyancy. ∎
a large floating fender used to keep a vessel off the dock.

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dromedary

drom·e·dar·y
/ ˈdräməˌderē/
•
n.
(pl. -dar·ies)
an Arabian camel, esp. one of a light and swift breed trained for riding or racing.
ORIGIN:Middle English: from Old French dromedaire or late Latin dromedarius (camelus) ‘swift camel,’ based on Greek dromas, dromad- ‘runner.’

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camel

camel Large, hump-backed, ungulate mammal of the family Camelidae. There are two species – the two-humped Bactrian of central Asia and the single-humped Arabian dromedary. Its broad, padded feet and ability to travel long periods without water make the camel a perfect desert animal. Genus Camelus.

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